


A Bitter Brew

by panther



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-15
Updated: 2012-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-29 14:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panther/pseuds/panther
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ron often has to visit the Malfoys on Auror business and Lucius always gives him tea. He doesn't realise he is being manipulated until it is too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bitter Brew

**Author's Note:**

> I had a 24 hour challenge and was given a prompt generated pairing of Lucius/Ron and 'bitter brew' and this is what I came up with :)

Ron had been an Auror five years when he was first sent to question Lucius Malfoy over things that had happened in the past. Some were from the war he had fought and other things were from before he was even born. Lucius always had one of his elves serve tea and when Narcissa Malfoy answered her door it was always politely and with a tight smile. Every time Ron followed her into the sitting room where Lucius was waiting he was aware that everyone in the room knew that the only reason they were free was Harry and yet the confidence coming off Lucius Malfoy was obvious. It made Ron feel sick.

Things are awkward in the first year and the tea serves to give Ron something to do to fill the silence while Lucius contemplates his questions and Ron suspects, whether it is in his interest to answer him or not. Ron will never forget the first cup, the way he had only drank it after he had seen Lucius drink from the same pot and smirk at him like he _knew_ he still made the fully trained Auror and war hero nervous. None of the other witches or wizards that Ron had to visit had that effect on him and somehow it seemed that Lucius knew that.

The second year and Ron finds himself looking forward to the hospitality of the Malfoys even if it s fake and purely to try and keep him onside and them out of prison. He feels guilty for it, and at the same time he doesn’t wait a few minutes to pick up his cup anymore, just takes it right away and starts with his questions. His back hits the back of the chair and he finds himself lowering his guard a little. Lucius pauses in his recall of what happened with the bribery circles in the Ministry in the 90s and gives Ron a knowing look, as if he has the young man exactly where he wants him to be, before he continues on. Small chat develops, the sort of polite discussion that Ron had with what he would call ‘good people’ and Lucius drawls one day that ‘it seems the Weasleys are finally getting their respect back’ and Ron doesn’t know how to react to it so ignores it instead.

The tea cups get bigger, less polite and more familiar when Ron returns three years after the first meeting needing to know about the Lestrange family. The Ministry willing to barter permission for Lucius to move about freely in Europe rather than being confined to Britain if he offers up information and Harry feels that Ron can use his _relationship_ with Lucius to get him to agree. He does, because the Lestrange family is dead and long buried and there is far more to gain in agreeing and it doesn’t take Ron his allotted appointment time to get the information he needs. Lucius invites him to stay and finish his tea and they talk about quidditch. It is strange and doesn’t feel right but Ron can’t make himself leave.

Lucius walks him to the door when Ron returns in later years to talk about various things and when his cases come up Ron makes sure they fall on his desk. No one else wants them and saying he is used to dealing with them doesn’t sound as desperate as it feels. There is something he can’t explain in the back of his mind that says that Lucius Malfoy is _his_ to deal with and the idea of someone else being offered tea and realising how comfortable Ron had become with the older man makes him nervous.

In the end, Lucius sends him a letter requesting he come and Ron goes without question. Lucius offers information that he is adamant only he knows about an upcoming terrorist attack of the ‘old crowd’ and demands a complete lifting of the limitations the Ministry had placed upon himself, his movements and more importantly his magic over the years in return. Ron accepts with only a few sketchy details and when he unveils the story behind it all he finds Lucius himself set the whole thing up. He has set it up hoping to manipulate the situation to his advantage, abuse the trust Ron had foolishly given him until he had found a way to secure his freedoms. Despite their best efforts, they never find Lucius again and Ron’s reputation never quite recovers from it all.

He never drinks tea again. It remains a bitter brew he can’t drink without remembering how foolish he was to trust someone who had nearly killed his sister, tortured countless more and manipulated better men than himself.


End file.
